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The Son of a Gunn
Think Tank, Issue 2 "The Son of a Gunn." Front cover- It shows a man in red and black powered armour, the familiar form of Brillian casing wraps the body of a hawkish looking teenager in the depths of space, planets and stars in the distance. The armour has coursing lines of red energy which are especially strong in the legs and arms of the suit, the palms of which are firing red energy into shadowy tall figures, tiny red eyes rise above mandible-like silhouettes. The energy encasing them from the attack causes them to be thrown like toys into the vaccum. Unlike the suits of his ancestors, Sonne's armour shows his face, a frame of black rises as high as the crown of his head and to his chin, but a forcefield of transparent reddish energy makes the suit voidproof. His face is hawkish, a little sullen in the cheeks but with a strong jaw and cheekbones. Black hair is worn short, his face bare of facial hair, green eyes are narrow with concentrated rage, brilliant white teeth grimaced. Perhaps in effort, perhaps in anger. He looks like a young man, likely no older than 16. The comic opens with a full page spread showing our own solar system; a small silver speck is shown flying through it. A panel at the bottom of the page shows the silver object in question; a silver space-ship, shaped akin to a large teardrop, with no visible weaponry, subtle dorsal fins glowing with a blue energy leaving a streak behind it through space. Flying ahead of the ship is a golden streak. On the next page, the comic zooms in again, showing the spaceship in the background, and in the foreground, the source of the golden streak of energy; a human-looking man with perfect skin, perfect jawline and perfect physique. Despite his muscular body, his body is almost gender neutral, as, despite his jawline, his face is otherwise soft, his face more beautful than handsome, his hair blonde, streaming down past his shoulders, clearly well cared for. The man is clad in a white toga which shows off much of his physique. His legs cannot be seen by the reader, as they are simply a streak of light Narration- "Hermes, Herald of Zeus (Ruler of the Olympians of New Olympus.) Former pedigree member of Team Titan." The comic shows what he is approaching, as he leaves our solar system; in the empty void between systems, there is a massive, whirling singularity, and floating above it, somehow unmoving is a giant asteroid, flattened at the top, which appears to have structures on top of it. The comic zooms in again to show a massive futuristic city atop the asteroid, inside a huge dome covering it. Bristling along the sides of the asteroid is a vastness of ramps and docking tubes, as swarms of spaceships come in and out Narration- "Last Bastion. The GSPD affiiated facility for the housing of cosmic refugees." The comic cuts back to Hermes as telepathic speech bubbles appear around him. "Attention Warden, this is Hermes, Herald of the Olympians, accompanying the 'Trident', carrying Director Laura Waterstone, leader of Planet Earth's Global Superhuman Peacekeeping Directive, and associates, asking for passage." The comic cuts to the singularity 'below' the asteroid, where at the heart of it, floats the spread out limbs of what appears to be an eight limbed humanoid form. The comic zooms in to show a human-sized alien with grey skin, an unnaturally wide face by human standards with comparatively small eyes set into the hairless face. Though its body and eight limbs are thin, they are toned and its eyes are closed in concentration, thought bubbles appear around it. "It is good to hear your thoughts again, friend Hermes, and a pleasure to allow our sponsor entry. You may dock." The singularity The Warden seems to be part of appears to shrink in size, as Hermes flies right over to a docking tube, which opens up, and allows him inside. As the Olympian spaceship follows suit, the comic cuts to show the surface of the asteroid. Inside the dome, the cityscape is filled with swarms of small flying vehicles, and there are even roads where various wheeled and hover-vehicles of alien design travel, and even lo-tech vehicles such as carts and rickshaws of an alien design pulled by all kinds of bizarre alien animals. There are hundreds of different species here and lots of buildings of various shapes and sizes are illuminated in alien scripts, but there are also signs in enlgish and other Earth languages among them, and the odd human can be seen by the reader in the civilian crowd, including humans in blue, futuristic looking power armour. There is a building with massive queues outside of it, where there are tube-like lift doors open, as people go in and out, the tubes going down into the asteroid, as Director Waterstone and her entourage come out of the asteroid in their respective tube. As there is oxygen here, Waterstone is dressed normally in her usual black leather and long red overcoat, still wearing her large sunglasses as usual. Behind her is a woman dressed in normal formal wear, a woman in her thirties, by the looks of it, a beautiful looking woman, much taller than Waterstone, with straight blonde hair stopping just below her ears, a slender form. The reader will recognise her as Alyssa Grey, also known as Deus Ex Machina, when in her power armour and with them is a comparatively short man, but with a subtly toned body, dressed in a body covering blue jumpsuit, the only flesh being visible being his nose, and mouth, as well as his eyes, and over his heart is a small british flag. He has some kind of baton weapon at his belt; the reader will recognise him as the second Battling Briton, Steve Waterstone (he took his wife's surname.) As the three walk down the street, two of the human, power-armoured security pass them. "Hey guys, good to see you" they both say in unison. "Been a while." "Mossssssh! High five!" says the Battling Briton raising up both hands to both guards, who high five him in perfect unison. Waterstone scowls back at the Briton. "Steve, please. This is my first visit here, a little decorum, please!" The Battling Briton lowers his head. "Sorry, dear." "Don't call me dear. You know I hate that." The three continue on in silence. They push through the throng of Last Bastion, until they come to a building which is six silver towers stretching up high past most buildings, each tower a cylinder with some distance between, but connected by walls which only reach up to about a third of their total height. Only one of the six towers has a streetside entrance as they approach it coming downhill through a pedestrianised street. Above the front entrance, in large steel letters on the front is the words 'The Space Academy for Sentient Superbeings' and around it are neon sides displaying the words in various alien languages. The Battling Briton grins and looks to Alyssa. "Wow, you sent your son to SASS? Okay, given the parents, that works." Both women shoot him icy stares. "What? You're a sassy family, it was a complim-" "Steve, shut up!" they both say He lowers his head and grumbles "Should be 'Battling Briton', shut up at least... you two are as bad as Shamrock..." As they enter the foyer, Hermes is there waiting for them, leaning against the wall of a massive fountain "The ceremony is this way. We missed the start. Well, -you- missed the start. -I- am never late." "You see, this is why I should have flight boots. My... uh... dad... -he- had flight boots" says the Battling Briton. And a force-field belt. What do i get? A baton. And smoke grenades. When i can carry grenades..." "Need I remind you that those self-same gadgets got him killed and fused with the Negative man which is entirely why he eventually got killed along with a bunch of old Titans... compatriots of mine?" says Hermes, sorely "Doesn't mean it will happen again. Lightning never strikes twice, you know." Hermes brightens up and laughs, patting BB on the shoulders. "You've never met my father, have you?" "Yes... okay, no. Shamrock did. They even let Reactor go and see him! a RADIOACTIVE RUSSIAN ROBOT!" "It is for the best, my friend. I do believe that for you, in Zeus's presence lightning would not only strike twice, but at least fifteen times." They make their way through the academy halls, which are quiet except for cleaning staff. They go up some winding stairs, and in the next panel, the four are sat in a high balcony as they overlook a massive hall filled thousands upon thousands of aliens. On the stage are about thirty aliens of various shapes and sizes, all dressed in some kind of alien equivalent of a super hero costume. On the stage, standing at about thirty foot in height, is none other than Prometheus himself, the human looking yet gigantic, olive skinned, black haired, Titan, and founding member of Team Titan. He stands in front of the super-hero aliens on stage, standing in front of a podium, but having no need of a mic. He was once overweight, but after decades of torment at the hands of Zeus, he became heavily emaciated. Now, he has gained a healthy amount of weight and muscle, and so has a little paunch, due to having the super hero equivalent of a 'desk job' now, but is mostly muscle "... have reached a difficult time in our lives, as collective peoples of this galaxy, and of the farther galaxies of which some of you hail. The Kraan are spreading like an infectious disease, a disease to which we seem to no longer have the cure. But, where there are people, there is hope. And here, in Last Bastion, there is a home for any who would oppose the menace of the Kraan Overmind and its lackey Hives. And the people that stand before you, be they Fengrar, Tez'catai, Bestorian, Ozarian, Gular, they represent that there is still hope. I know times are desperate. That it seems that the end is here. But here at the Space Academy for Sentient Superbeings, we are the beacon of hope for Last Bastion, for the galaxies, for THE UNIVERSE! And these graduates, the heroes of Last Bastion, the heroes of YOUR PEOPLES, they are the light. Friends and families, I present the class of 2007! Your newest defenders!" He makes a pause. "Snowstorm, of the Shree-Ak!" Prometheus holds out a hand, and a tiny one foot high rodent comes to the front of the stage, bipedal in stance. It has a huge massive white tail sweeping behind it, one pronounced buck-tooth, and four eyes, each with a fluffy white eyebrow. Several people in the crowd say 'Ahhhh!' Prometheus laughs, a huge belly laugh; the Shree-ak folds his arms in annoyance. "Some of you may think he is cute.. but... ON THE CONTRARY!" The Shree-Ak beats his chest and roars and the crowd laughs. And then the little creature hulks out, GROWING SIX TIMES ITS SIZE; so, six foot high, but its chest is massive, and its bucktooth becomes a similar long sabre-tooth and its hands massive claws "Due to application of the Earth chemical, Surge, Snowstorm, a polar subtype Shree-Ak has the power of adrenal enhancement, sparking increased endurance, strength, size, speed, agility and stamina when angry or excited. So... thank yiou for helping with the demonstration." The crowd laughs and Snowstorm bows and instantly shrinks in size and hops to the back of the stage. "And now, speaking of Earth, next we have the planet's own representative..." BB leaps up in his seat and yellls "WooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOO!" "Sonne V Gunn, of the Humans!" (because Earth also has other sentient species, he needs to be specific...) Sonne is wearing a thigh length tunic in an almost naval style, but at the forearms and elbows, leading down to the floor, are two black crutches which he limps forward on with a speed that comes with a lifetime of use. Leg braces to the knee of a sleek and minimal design bind at the ankles as he approaches the podium, taking the stairs two at a time. A hush falls upon the crowd. There are then a few 'BOOOOOO!' speech bubbles coming from the crowd and a yell of 'COSMIC THREAT!' and a cry of 'HIS KIN DESTROYED THE OZARCH CLUSTER!" BB looks to Alyssa. "Am I missing something? What were you and Tommy -doing- when you guys were supposed to be out here fighting the Kraan? Which it seems you did really well at, by the way." "They don't mean us..." Alyssa sighs "Apparently his long lost great grandad got long lost in space... and was a loony. A really destructive loony." "I'm the clone of a big hero who got possessed and made a bunch of his old dead friends zombies before some of his other friends took him to the end of time and suicided themselves. I can relate." Hermes huffs. "You humans are so complicated." "Said the god to the super-soldier" says BB. "Boys- quiet!" hisses Waterstone Sonne clears his throat faintly, not looking back at the crowd, but at the figure before him. He gives a nervous smile, feeling very selfconscious as any male his age might. He adjusts the weight between his crutches and legs uncomfortably. "I hope you're not expecting me to turn 6 times larger. I don't think that was on the lesson plan." he tries to lighten the mood, looking over his shoulder and spotting his Mother and familiar faces, his smile becomes a more solid fixture until he notices an absence, and it becomes more pained. He looks forward again. There are one or two laughs from the audience. Hermes laughs as loudly as Olympianly possible. But otherwise, its awkward silence, until a cry of 'Get off the stage!" which is repeated a few times. "Its your ancestor and his wicked allies who aggravated the Kraan in the first place!" someone else yells. Prometheus steps forward "SILENCE!" as he doubles his current thirty foot size, his head coming near to the chamber ceiling, as his voice echoes. He then smiles a grim smile at the silence. "Better." He shrinks down to human size, so he is stood at the podium and mic and rests a hand on the left shoulder of Sonne. Sonne grunts softly, eyes bulging at the unintended strength behind the gesture. "If you must judge this young man by the actions of his blood, then you choose a poor example. You choose a man this boy has never met, a man who has had no influence on the family he left behind, man whose crimes the people of Earth knew nothing of until recent years. If you MUST judge by the actions of his kin, judge by Francis Gunn. A hero of the Second World War, not a warrior, but a man who helped revolultionise computer technology on Earth, in order to help overthrow one of Earth's most evil regimes. If you must judge by blood, judge by the actions of his mother, Alyssa, who once was called a villain on Earth, yet, after leaving the planet, and discovering your own peoples, she decided to fight -for- you, she helped save the Olympians from destruction, and returned to her planet, a hero! If you must judge by blood, judge..." he pauses, he looks down to Sonne and looks to the balcony where Alyssa and the others are, with an empty seat. Sonne glowers at his feet. Prometheus pats Sonne lightly and then lets go "Judge by his father. Samuel Thomas Gunn. A man who could not be here today, BECAUSE, after over 50 years of fighting for his planet, of fighting for ALL planets, he gave his life in self-sacrifice. He gave his life to save as many of his friends as he could." He clenches his fists and looks over the crowd and glowers at them "Judge by him. And judge, by this boy, by this man, himself. A man, who, despite being born with a unique mutation from unique parentage that nearly killed him, fought back with every moment. A man, who despite disability, forged armour even greater than his father's. A man, who due the quirk of the nanites that keep him alive, has barely had a childhood. A man who has spent nearly his entire life training to battle among and for, people that hate him." He grows again in size and points at Gunn. "JUDGE... BY... HIM!" There is silence. And then nervous applause, which then breaks out into wide applause. Alyssa is crying, Waterstone holding her. BB is smiling "Yeah, stupid hecklers, you just got TITANNED!" Sonne looks up at the crowd and blinks away tears, bowing awkwardly on his crutches. He manages a silent "thank you" towards Prometheus. With loping strides, he leaves the podium again, but not before a parting look to the empty chair in the balcony, which is framed in its own panel. The comic then cuts to the after-party. As Hermes, BB, Waterstone and Alyssa Grey stand in a corner, drinks in hand, BB holding a plate in one hand, and some bizarre kind of squealing worm-creature in the other "How does it squeal... i mean.. its too tiny for vocal cords, right..." Sonne comes limping over to the four. He seems a little more chipper now, moving over to his Mother. "Hi Mum. Hi Mr. And Mrs. Waterstone." he smirks cheekily, leaning in for a one sided hug with his mother, his arms otherwise engaged. The Battling Briton shrugs "Secret identities! Worth sod all nowadays..." He snaps off the head of the squealing worm then spits it out. "You're meant to eat the tail bit. The head's a deadly poison." he says, deadpan. "Hahahahaha." BB slaps his knees. "Hahaha. Hahaha. You -are joking, right?" "Mostly." Sonne grins. "Unless of course you're a haz'blikavan, in which case you shouldn't be eating food anyway. Thank you for coming, all of you. And for cheering me, Mr. Waterstone. It was nice to have one vocal fan from the start there that wasn't my Mum." Alyssa hugs him and says "I would have been more vocal, darling, but I was a little... well you know..." she grabs a tissue "welled up." "You see! -He- thinks I'm funny. I need a sidekick. Laura, can he be my sidekick?" says BB "Hey, A Gunn is no man's sidekick. Not even yours, Mr. B." "Plus, the GSPD scrapped sidekicks. Its a pointless, prejudiced idea. Steve knows that. Because the Director happens to be his wife" says Waterstone "I know stuff about my wife! Who knew!" Sonne grimaces, giving BB a sympathising look. Waterstone gently slaps him about the ear. "Shut up." "Mum, is it still bullying if you marry them?" "I think most men view married life as one of the worst forms of bullying, dear" says Alyssa "Huh. Then maybe there should be a divorce lawyer super hero. Legislative Action Man, or something." he shrugs, looking over his shoulder. "So I'm guessing that the good couple Waterstone aren't here on a social call? Nice as it'd be, you guys are too important to stroke a kid you don't know's ego." "Yeah, we got our own kids for that. But i won't show you their photos or anything. Thats just creepy" says BB "You're very perceptive, Sonne. I am here to have a private word. I thought it would be better had in person. And I did want to see one of our rising stars graudate, of course. Alyssa, Hermes, please make sure my husband doesn't eat the actual food thats poisonous to humans. I mean, there are labels, but after our four years of marriage, I'm still not sure he can read" says Waterstone and then beckons Sonne to follow her. "Go go Gunn Crutches." he rolls his eyes at BB, before heading after Mrs. Waterstone in loping motions. The two of them sit by the fountain in the foyer, which is still mostly empty, as most people in the building are at the graduation party in another massive hall "Okay, so usual protocol for this place is to either keep graduates here at Bastion, or send them out on sorties into Kraan Territory and the Threatened Territories to go and do the hero thing. But since you're human and I'm GSPD Director, I've been able to swing something different for you, despite being born out here. You're gonna get to come to Earth." "The Kraan have gotten to Earth!?" He exclaims, while keeping his voice hushed. "No. No. I think you'd already know about that if that happened... they'd come through Bastion's defensive lines. No, no Kraan. But we did have some, a few years back... they came from the future. Time travelled. A super hero army came out of nowhere and helped us trounce the Overmind. The future one, that is. Which means..." She breaths in deep "It means, that at some point in the Earth's future... well, they are gonna invade. Which means they're gonna get past Bastion." "That's impossible. The Bastion is the last place, if it falls, then we all do. You must be mistaken." "Well, whether I'm mistaken or not, its a problem for the future. Heh. I'm here to bring you in for something else. Your nanites, and your family background make you uniquely disposed to a task I need done. It won't be alone. I've put a team together." Sonne wrings his hands against one another. "Does Mum know about this? I'm not very comfortable with the idea of leaving the Bastion. I've not even been to Earth." "Well, you won't be on Earth, perse, for very long... I need you to go into the dimensional pocket that contains Titan City. The others think you're Dad's dead but... I think Blitzkrieg has him." "Dad's OK?" Sonne's eyes shoot wide. "I don't think okay is the word but... he's alive. And I don't want to leave him and the city any longer in Blitzkrieg's clutches." "Then you're right, we've gotta stop Blitzy. Who's on my team?" Sonne reaches for his crutches, not willing to hang around any longer. "My eldest son, Reb. He's your healer. Also, bit of a kid prodigy, smarts wise. Cain... highly adaptive, has a bit of aa suite of super-powers, can mutate himself at will. He's a strategist, knows a lot about group tactics and the way the bad guys think. Mr Psychic... pretty obvious what he does, electronics and psychology expert. Toni Stevens... not really a super hero, but she's powerful. You want something turned into something, call her. She's the chemical expert. Games Master; he has energy manipulation and absorption powers, and his minds kinda a living computer, your on-team memory storage device. And Master of Arms, kung-fu master, whose a master tacticism, mystic and an expert in reading people." "Seems balanced. OK, we can work with that. This dimensional pocket might make communications difficult, we'd need to set up some manner of rift or relay to get something through to you, if we needed it. If we're lucky, we won't need it, but it's the only weakness I can see." he grows in confidence as he falls back onto his teaching, hefting himself onto his feet. "I'll get my suit out and pack my things. Where're you docked?" "Dock 15c, Level 4. As for the relay... don't worry, I got that covered. Your mum and Dad ever tell you about Grandad?" "Francis Gunn? Sure. He was the inspiration behind the suit. Mum says I take after him a bit." "Oh yeah, you Gunn's all take after each other... unwillingness to lay down and die, for one." CUT The comic cuts to show a massive underground chamber; it is completely empty, except for one thing. At the far end, is a wall covering computer, a cold war era style massive supercomputer, the disks on the side start whirling round and the red lights come up. "GRANDAD, ONLINE. Ahhhhhhhhhhh... good to stretch the legs a bit" it says "Well, figuratively speaking." End of issue.